Leiden University Student Repository

Reisen, Annika van (2025)

De rol van geslacht en kinderopvangfrequentie in de ontwikkeling van troostgedrag bij peuters van 24 en 30 maanden

Master thesis | Education and Child Studies (MSc)

Comforting is a form of prosocial behavior that requires higher emotional and cognitive skills compared to for example helping or sharing. Comforting means that a child tries to make someone else feel better when they are sad or hurt. This behavior is important for children to build good relationships and learn how to care for others. Earlier studies suggest that girls may comfort more than boys, and that going to daycare can help children learn social skills like comforting. However, it is not clear how these factors work together and whether these factors play a part when comforting behavior starts to develop. This study looked at whether gender and how often a child goes to daycare are related to comforting behavior in toddlers around 24 and 30 months old. The study also explored whether the effect of daycare hours on comforting behavior differs between boys and girls. Seventeen children took part in a comforting task with a hand puppet that pretended to be hurt. The children’s...Show moreComforting is a form of prosocial behavior that requires higher emotional and cognitive skills compared to for example helping or sharing. Comforting means that a child tries to make someone else feel better when they are sad or hurt. This behavior is important for children to build good relationships and learn how to care for others. Earlier studies suggest that girls may comfort more than boys, and that going to daycare can help children learn social skills like comforting. However, it is not clear how these factors work together and whether these factors play a part when comforting behavior starts to develop. This study looked at whether gender and how often a child goes to daycare are related to comforting behavior in toddlers around 24 and 30 months old. The study also explored whether the effect of daycare hours on comforting behavior differs between boys and girls. Seventeen children took part in a comforting task with a hand puppet that pretended to be hurt. The children’s reactions were watched and scored. The study expected girls and children who go to daycare often to show more comforting behavior. It is also expected that the link between daycare hours and comforting behavior is stronger for girls than for boys. The results showed no significant differences between boys and girls in comforting behavior. Daycare attendance frequency was also not significantly related to comforting behavior, and no interaction between gender and daycare hours was found. In conclusion, this study found no evidence that gender or daycare attendance explains differences in comforting behavior. Each child develops in their own way. Future research with larger samples is needed to better understand why some toddlers comfort more than othersShow less

Author

Reisen, Annika van

Faculty

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Specialisation

Orthopedagogiek

Supervisors

Biro, S

ECTS Credits

20

Language

nl